I was born on South Whidbey and left the island after high school to attend college, serve time in the military and then pursue a career. What happens on the island still interests me, so I frequently go to the Record’s website to see what’s going on in the neighborhood.

This opinion is in response to the letter dated March 13, criticizing the Republicans for all the problems facing our nation today. As is typical with liberals —- always blame the other side, but never admit to your own mistakes.

Remember which party was in control of Congress when the “drunken frat boy” ran the car into the ditch? Wasn’t it the Democrats including Barney Frank and Chris Dodd? Didn’t they insist that everyone should be able to purchase a home even though they couldn’t afford one?

Didn’t this lead to the collapse of the housing market which led us into a recession? I’ll admit that government spending under Bush increased by an unacceptable amount, but again the Dems in Congress had a hand in that. If Bush drove the economy into the ditch, then the present administration has driven it off the cliff. Meanwhile the government gets bigger, more dollars for entitlements, joblessness is still high, debt is the highest it’s ever been and nothing in sight to change anything.

The writer admits that the Obama administration is flawed, but gives him a pass by saying it’s “a tough job” getting us out of the ditch. I’ll admit it’s tough, so why did we elect someone that didn’t have the least bit of experience to do the job? His only qualification seemed to be that he could give a good speech with the aid of a teleprompter. The writer takes our present condition all the way back to Reagan. Why not go all the way back to Lincoln, or even Jefferson? After all, they were both Republicans.

Whether we like it or not, the government is more and more in control of our lives. It is already creeping into: what cars we drive, fuel we use, light bulbs we purchase, food we eat, whether we can own guns, and shortly, through Obamacare, where we get our health insurance, doctors we can see, and whether mandated health care will treat us as we get older.

I challenge you to read Mark Levin’s book titled “Ameritopia.” It will open your eyes as to how we have evolved from a republic as laid out in the Constitution, to a socialistic government more and more in control of our lives. I can’t blame it all on Obama since it was started way back with Woodrow Wilson, and really got the ball rolling with FDR and the New Deal.

I still have not made up my mind which Republican candidate I will support, but I will vote for any of them over Obama. I love this country too much to do otherwise.

Meanwhile, to Norma Metcalf — go, girl.

Dick Bryant

LHS ‘53